Estimation of the Density of Feral Goats in Part of Arid South Australia by means of the Peterson Estimate

1984 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 93 ◽  
Author(s):  
RP Henzell ◽  
PI McCloud
Keyword(s):  
South Australia ◽  
Grazing Pressure ◽  
Sheep Grazing ◽  
Long Term Effects ◽  
Arid Rangeland

The density of feral goats in about 234 km2 of arid rangeland used for sheep grazing in South Australia was estimated by means of a mark-resight technique. Marking and subsequent resighting were done at watering points. The Petersen estimate was 4.4 goats per square kilometre; adjustment to allow for nonrandom behaviour raised this estimate to 5.0 km-1. Maximum allowable sheep density is 12 km-2. The goat density we observed imposes an added burden on the vegetation. The densities of red and western grey kangaroos, when added together, approximate that of the goats. Rabbits are virtually absent. The long-term effects of the total grazing pressure on the vegetation cannot be predicted in detail but will probably be deleterious.

The influence of plant diversity on the resilience of harvester termites to fire

1995 ◽  
Vol 2 (3) ◽  
pp. 279 ◽  
Author(s):  
Max Abensperg-Traun ◽  
Dion Steven ◽  
Lyn Atkins
Keyword(s):  
Western Australia ◽  
High Intensity ◽  
Experimental Studies ◽  
Grazing Pressure ◽  
Livestock Grazing ◽  
Floristic Diversity ◽  
Long Term Effects ◽  
Burnt Area ◽  
Food Species

The harvester termites in floristically rich mallee-heath of southern Western Australia appear resilient to high-intensity fire. This contrasts with the temporary extinction of harvesters occupying a narrow food niche in floristically simple, intensely burnt spinifex Triodia angusta grassland in tropical Western Australia. The present study examines the effects of high-intensity fire on harvester termites Drepanotermes tamminensis in vegetation of intermediate floristic diversity and compares its findings with these earlier studies. We sampled 20 mounds (termitaria) in both an unburnt and (adjacent) burnt stand of Allocasuarina campestris shrubland. Although partially regenerated three years after the fire, 40% of mounds in the burnt area were abandoned, contrasting with 10% in the unburnt stand. No harvested chaff was found in any of the abandoned mounds. The extent of mound occupation by D. tamminensis was considerably lower, and ant invasion higher, in the burnt stand. These findings are consistent with the hypothesis that high floristic diversity enhances the resilience of harvester termites to fire. The most likely mechanism is the availability of a range of plant (food) species with different regenerative responses to high-intensity fire. The death of spinifex and the associated harvester termites after fire may be atypical. We argue, however, that temporary extinction of harvester populations in arid Australia may not be exceptional, particularly where fire coincides with drought and high livestock grazing pressure. Rigorous experimental studies are necessary to enhance our understanding of the long-term effects of fire on harvester termite populations in different vegetation types and climatic zones.

Long-term effects of warren ripping for rabbit control in semi-arid South Australia.

1991 ◽  
Vol 13 (2) ◽  
pp. 96 ◽  
Author(s):  
GJ Mutze
Keyword(s):  
South Australia ◽  
Cost Effective ◽  
Long Term Effects ◽  
Short Term ◽  
Long Term Effect ◽  
Perennial Shrubs ◽  
Control Work ◽  
Semi Arid

Warren ripping and poisoning were used to control rabbits on the flood-out plain of a major creek system on Manunda Station, a sheep-grazing property near Yunta in semi-arid South Australia. Rabbit numbers were initially reduced by >99 per cent, as indicated by the number of active entrances remaining in rabbit warrens. After nearly 10 years without follow-up control work, ripped warrens had only two per cent of the pre-control number of active entrances. Poisoning effectively reduced rabbit numbers in the short-term, but had no long-term effect on the number of active entrances, either in ripped or unripped warrens. Perennial shrubs regenerated on and around ripped warrens. Warren ripping on this part of Manunda is a cost-effective management option.

Long-term effects of sheep grazing on giant hogweed (Heracleum mantegazzianum)

Hydrobiologia ◽  
1996 ◽  
Vol 340 (1-3) ◽  
pp. 277-284 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ulla Vogt Andersen ◽  
Birgitte Calov
Keyword(s):  
Sheep Grazing ◽  
Long Term Effects ◽  
Heracleum Mantegazzianum

scholarly journals Long-term effects of rotational prescribed burning and low-intensity sheep grazing on blanket-bog plant communities

2013 ◽  
Vol 50 (3) ◽  
pp. 625-635 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hyohyemi Lee ◽  
Josu G. Alday ◽  
Rob J. Rose ◽  
John O'Reilly ◽  
Rob H. Marrs
Keyword(s):  
Plant Communities ◽  
Prescribed Burning ◽  
Sheep Grazing ◽  
Long Term Effects ◽  
Low Intensity ◽  
Blanket Bog

Winter durability of pygmy bluetongue lizard burrows is higher for occupied than for unoccupied burrows and for those in less-grazed neighbourhoods

2016 ◽  
Vol 43 (8) ◽  
pp. 634 ◽  
Author(s):  
Torben P. Nielsen ◽  
C. Michael Bull
Keyword(s):  
Direct Effect ◽  
Vegetation Cover ◽  
Soil Structure ◽  
South Australia ◽  
Grazing Pressure ◽  
Livestock Grazing ◽  
Sheep Grazing ◽  
Native Grassland ◽  
Burrow Entrance ◽  
Different Levels

Context Many ectothermic animals survive winter by hibernating, either buried or in burrows. During their hibernation these animals are vulnerable to changes in soil structure and temperature caused by the activity of grazing mammals. This may be a particular risk to ectotherms living in native grassland, as this habitat is often used for livestock grazing. The endangered pygmy bluetongue lizard lives in burrows, in fragments of native grassland in South Australia, and these burrows are likely to be affected by sheep grazing during the lizards’ hibernation. Aims The current study aimed to determine the following effects on the persistence of burrows suitable to the pygmy bluetongue lizard: different levels of grazing, winter vegetation cover, burrow entrance size and whether a lizard was overwintering in the burrow. Methods During two winters, we applied different grazing treatments to six experimental paddocks and determined whether suitable lizard burrows located in autumn were still suitable to lizards in the following spring. For each burrow, we recorded whether a lizard was overwintering, the burrow entrance diameter and the vegetation cover around the burrow during the winter. Key results Increased grazing pressure led to decreased persistence of lizard burrows. We also found that burrows with an overwintering lizard had a greater chance of persisting, but found no direct effect of winter vegetation cover or entrance diameter. Conclusions The results show that although pygmy bluetongue lizards may be able to stabilise their own burrows, the more intense the grazing the lower the chance of lizard burrow persistence. Implications Management of sheep grazing is an important component in future conservation of the endangered pygmy bluetongue lizard. Grazing on grassland with a lizard population should be kept at a moderate level and hard grazing should be avoided.

scholarly journals Long-Term Effects of Sheep Grazing in Various Densities on Marsh Properties and Vegetation Dynamics in Two Different Salt-Marsh Zones

2019 ◽  
Vol 43 (2) ◽  
pp. 298-315 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. P. Bakker ◽  
M. Schrama ◽  
P. Esselink ◽  
P. Daniels ◽  
N. Bhola ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Salt Marsh ◽  
Vegetation Dynamics ◽  
Sheep Grazing ◽  
Long Term Effects

Long-term changes in vegetation, gradual and episodic, on the TGB Osborn Vegetation Reserve, Koonamore, South Australia (1926 - 2002)

2005 ◽  
Vol 53 (4) ◽  
pp. 283 ◽  
Author(s):  
Russell Sinclair
Keyword(s):  
Gradual Increase ◽  
South Australia ◽  
Gradual Change ◽  
Sheep Grazing ◽  
Rainfall Events ◽  
Show Evidence ◽  
Acacia Aneura ◽  
Permanent Quadrats ◽  
Semi Arid

The TGB Osborn Vegetation Reserve at Koonamore, South Australia, is a 390-ha exclosure in semi-arid chenopod shrubland. The area was heavily overgrazed in 1925 when it was fenced to exclude sheep. Permanent quadrats and photopoints have been maintained to the present. Feral rabbits were sometimes numerous until the mid-1970s but have since been controlled. The records represent 50 years without sheep grazing, followed by 26 years without either sheep or rabbits. Dramatic seedling establishment events have occurred since 1978 for the following species: Acacia aneura Benth., Myoporum platycarpum R.Br., Senna artemesioides subsp. coriacea Randell, S. artemesioides subsp. petiolaris Randell, Acacia burkittii Benth., Dodonaea attenuata A.Cunn., Eremophila longifolia (R.Br.) F.Muell., E. sturtii R.Br. and Maireana pyramidata (Benth.) Paul G.Wilson. However, the chenopod shrubs Atriplex vesicaria Benth. and A. stipitata Benth. increased earlier and did not respond in the same way to episodic rainfall events or rabbit control. Numbers of Alectryon oleifolius (Desf.) S.T.Reynolds and Casuarina pauper F.Muell. ex L.A.S.Johnson have remained almost unchanged, whereas Maireana sedifolia (F.Muell.) Paul G.Wilson and M. astrotricha (L.Johnson) Paul G.Wilson have shown a very gradual increase over time. The data show evidence for both episodic and gradual change among different species.

The nutrition of ruminants grazing native and improved pastures. IV.* Long-term effects of the quantity of superphosphate applied on the nutritive value of the diet selected by sheep grazing a pasture originally sown to Phalaris aquatica and Trifolium repens

1979 ◽  
Vol 30 (3) ◽  
pp. 565 ◽  
Author(s):  
JP Langlands ◽  
JE Bowles ◽  
GE Donald
Keyword(s):  
Nitrogen Content ◽  
Trifolium Repens ◽  
Nutritive Value ◽  
Sheep Grazing ◽  
Long Term Effects ◽  
Phalaris Aquatica ◽  
Grazing Sheep

Small plots sown to Phalaris aquatica–Trifolium repens in 1967 were fertilized with either 0, 188 or 375 kg superphosphate ha-1 year-1 from 1967 to 1976; the plots were grazed uniformly between 1967 and 1975 and at three stocking intensities during 1975 and 1976. The composition of the forage on offer and of the diet selected by grazing sheep were measured at 2-monthly intervals during 1976. Phalaris largely died out from plots which did not receive superphosphate. Available forage, and its content of clover, nitrogen and most minerals were substantially greater on plots that received fertilizer, as were the digestibility and nitrogen content of the diet selected. The nutritive value of the diet selected was greatest on plots which received 375 kg superphosphate ha-1 year-1. The nitrogen content of the diet selected generally increased with increasing stocking intensity, but this trend was not evident for digestibility; interactions between the quantity of fertilizer applied and stocking intensity were not significant. Digestibility and nitrogen content of the diet varied between months, with the quantity of green forage and clover on offer, and with the nitrogen content of the available forage. __________________ *Part III, Aust. J. Agric. Res., 29, 1301 (1978).

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